Top 7 Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Success in the restaurant business is not easy; as a matter of fact, more than half of new restaurants are forced to shut their doors within a year of opening. That is why it is very important, as a restaurant owner or manager, to know how best to market your business. Marketing of restaurants is unique – it is a bit different from marketing in other industries. Don’t let that get in the way though; use the following restaurant marketing tips to get more patrons through the door.

Become more active on social media.
There is no better way to engage today than through social media. Open at least 3 social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great. Invite your friends, family and existing patrons and then find content that is interesting and engaging about your business. It can be something as simple as posting a picture of today’s special with a few interesting notes. You will be in the face of users and when they are selecting a restaurant, they are more likely to choose you.

Get in the press.
Local newspapers, TV, and radio are a great advertising tool. Get a press release out talking about your restaurant – what is the ambiance like, your drink menu, and so on. Don’t forget to spread this positive news through your social media channels and on your website.

Invest in online ordering.
Offer your customers the ability to order food from the comfort of their home or office with an online ordering system like NetWaiter. Customers who order from restaurants online have an average return rate of 95%. The benefits could help your restaurant increase sales immensely.

Open a Google+ account.
This is very important for any business that is looking to appeal to customers who are geographically close by. A Google+ business account allows users to see the broader details about your restaurant at a glance but it does something else that is even more important; it displays a map of your location. This makes it very convenient for users to find you.

Take more pictures.
There is no better way to tempt people into your establishment than to use pictures. Invest in a good camera and take some time to learn a thing or two about food photography. Take pictures of your menu items and post them on Instagram. You can also compile them into a newsletter with a few notes on what the dishes are, ingredients, calories per meal and so on. This way, people get to know what to expect when they come into your restaurant. It is also a great way of whetting their appetites.

Use online review sites like Yelp.
Online review sites are a great way for people to get to see how well liked your restaurant is. Make sure that you offer excellent service and then ask patrons to go online and write good reviews. Most people will be happy to do this if they feel you gave them great food, great value, and excellent customer service.

Let the public see your staff.
Your employees are a big part of your business but it is very likely that they are never seen as anything but cooks and servers. Take pictures and video of them hard at work and display them on your website.

Optimize your website.
Your website is worthless if it can’t be seen and the only way to get that to happen is to make sure your site is clean, SEO optimized, and mobile friendly. You want your website to show in organic search results, so that when people are looking online for a good restaurant they find your restaurant.

These are just a few restaurant marketing ideas that you can use to drum up business.

This is a Guest Post from our friends at NetWaiter.